A question we get asked a lot in our industry is ‘what actually is PR?’. It’s a good question because PR covers a wide spectrum – and it doesn’t stand for Press Release as some people think.
So we are going to try and answer it – by telling you a little more about what we do……starting with what PR actually stands for ‘Public Relations’.
Public Relations is all about getting your business known in the way you want it to be known.
It’s about raising your company’s profile, managing its reputation and building relationships with your local community to attract new customers.
At J&PR Ltd we are passionate about helping small businesses all across Shropshire boost their profile and get the public talking about them and their product.
We know that every business has its own individual PR needs, its own target market and, of course, its own budget.
Our team enjoys working with all sorts of companies to work out the best route for them.
That could be anything from blogs and online news articles to press releases and photographs or even writing an application for an award or advising a client on sponsorship – there are many tools up a PR consultant’s sleeve!
The majority of our clients are retained clients, which means they have a monthly PR package, while others call us on a quarterly basis, employ us to manage their annual event or run a bespoke e-newsletter campaign.
The beauty of hiring a freelance public relations consultant is that you don’t have to employ a full time member of staff to take on the role and you can instruct a PR company to take on as little or as much of your campaign as you want.
At J&PR, we also understand that for sole traders, employing a PR company can prove difficult on a start-up budget so for those who want to learn how to do their own PR, then our Public Relations Training Course could be the option for you.
To see examples of PR go to any internet news site or open any newspaper – one of the pieces will no doubt be PR… if you can spot it!
To understand PR in action think of a Shropshire company that everybody has heard of and then think of how often you see their name in print or on a website, hear it on TV or on radio… have they paid every single time for an advert? Probably not…
We will finish with some examples of PR you can work on to get you thinking…..

· Press releases: Have you won an award? Launched an innovative new product? Or created new jobs?
Then you should be telling everyone about it.

· e-Newsletters: Have you got a huge database of clients – past and present – who you fail to contact on a regular basis? Let them know your news and keep your brand at the forefront of their mind through an e-Newsletter.

· Blogs: A blog is an informal way to connect with your customers,prospective new customers, and give an opinion on what’s going on in your industry. It gives a personal touch to your website and lets people know what goes on behind the scenes at your company.

· Web copy writing: Your website is one of, if not the most, important PR tool there is – make sure you are communicating with the right people in the right way through your text, which is just as important as the construction, development and design of the site!

If you have a question about PR you would like an answer to then email info@jandpr.com and we will answer it in a future blog for you!

J&PR are a Shropshire PR agency covering Shrewsbury, Telford, north Shropshire, south Shropshire and parts of Mid and North Wales. As well as working with businesses, organisations and events across the region on PR campaigns J&PR run regular DIY PR Training Courses and DIY Digital PR Training Courses at venues in the county.